Costs of Forge Equipment in 1938
Bellows like these in Reuben's smithy cost:
140s for the 18 inch diameter model,
160s for 20 inch or
170s for 22 inch. (140 shillings = £7.)
Anvils were sold by weight, 72s per cwt (hundredweight), starting at half a cwt and going up to 2 cwt.
Weights & Measures
- 112 pounds
- lb = a hundredweight cwt
- 14 lb = a stone st
- 2 stones = 1 quarter
- 8 stones = 1 cwt
- 20 shillings s or /- = a pound £.
- 12 pennies d = a shilling s or /-
- 4 farthings
or 2 half pennies (ha'pence) = a penny d
Costs of shoeing in 1950
John Gate recalls:"Reuben charged us 10s 6d - half a guinea - to shoe a horse in the 1950s, and 5 shillings for a remove."
Distances measured with chains
22 yards = a chain
10 chains = a furlong (the length of a "fur" or furrow)
8 furlongs = a mile
The chains are very light so they are easy to use. Each section is joined to the next with a swivel to stop it tangling. The chains were used to measure jobs done, ready for payment:
- lengths of roadside verges trimmed
- ditches cleaned out
- turnip stitches weeded
- crops planted
- field areas sown
- Even the length of a cricket pitch is still the same as these chains.